Coming up on their third anniversary, it has been a whirlwind three years for The Bruery who in their short time has climbed the ranks to become one of the hottest American craft breweries. On May 29, The Bruery will party it up at The Phoenix Club in Anaheim with an event that will be split into two sessions and with 100% of the proceeds benefitting the Lestonnac Clinic, a clinic that has been providing free medical and dental care in Orange County for over 30 years. Not only will you find The Bruery’s great beers on tap, but they’re turning this into a small beer festival and you’ll find at least 19 local craft breweries pouring. This is an event you will not want to miss, how much better can it get? For those diehard Bruery fans, pretty good if they get a VIP ticket for $15 more which will allow them access to pours of 100% Barrel Aged Cuir, Melange #1, Melange #3, Bottleworks XII, The Wanderer, Black Tuesday, Chocolate Rain, Marrón Acidifié, ISO:FT, Oude Tart, Acer Quercus, Pinotlambicus and Barrel Fermented Autumn Maple .. all of which are quite rare and some of which are incredibly rare.

Coming as a designated driver? No problem. For $5 which will serve as a charitable donation to the Lestonnac Clinic, you can have admission as well and there will be cheese and snack stations to om nom nom on.

Some of the other breweries pouring will be Firestone Walker, Kern River, Ballast Point, Hangar 24, Lady Face Ale Companie and many more.

Seriously, you will not want to miss this and The Bruery is known for throwing some killer anniversary and Reserve Society parties.

WHO: The Bruery

WHAT: 3rd Anniversary Celebration

WHERE: The Phoenix Club
1340 S Sanderson Ave, Anaheim, CA 92806

WHEN: May 29
Session A: 10:30am – 2pm
Session B: 3:30pm – 7pm

WHY: To party

COST: General Admission: $35 / VIP Admission $50

For more information on the celebration and to get tickets, please visit their website.

Yesterday marked the beginning of American Craft Beer Week 2011 put on by the Brewers Association, the national non-profit organization that represents the interests of small and independent craft brewers in America. May 16-22 will be an exciting week for America’s small and independent craft brewers and consumers alike as beer drinkers across the United States can look forward to events and festivals put on by their favorite breweries, and that’s cool for sure, but did you know that Colbert Nation has pumped this thing up on the past? Oh yes, this is the real deal, so real, in fact, that the House of Representatives has pumped it up with House Resolution 1297, recognizing ACBW as being the real deal.

Basically what House Resolution 1297 means is that the members of House like to enjoy some damn fine beer. The resolution praises beer all throughout and is written in almost a Gonzo style, saying stuff like, “Whereas American craft brewers promote the Nation’s spirit of independence through a renaissance in hand-crafted beers like those first brought to colonial shores by Europeans settlers and produced here by the Nation’s founding fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson for the enjoyment of the citizenry.”

You know what else the citizenry is into? Mutineer Magazine. That’s right. I said it. Now figure out what’s happening in your area with American Craft Beer Week and drink some good beer, subscribe to Mutineer Magazine, and watch your karma go through the roof.

This is a pretty classic routine by Breuer. Breuer’s take on drunkenness is pretty psychedelic, with different alcohols becoming epic characters heading to a party in your stomach… you know it’s all true.

OMG! Sierra Nevada might open up a brewery on the East Coast. Old News? Probably. The way that the company undertook the fact-finding mission, or at least the one in the New River Valley of Virginia, is the story that you probably haven’t heard. A source tells me that Ken and Brian Grossman came to Blacksburg, Virginia to meet with professors at Virginia Tech. The duo came in fully armed with fake names and business information. Not sure if they had fake moustaches and noses attached to glasses though. I find this funny because, as a founder of the craft beer revolution, Ken’s got a face that lots of folks recognize. It’s akin to putting a sheet over a rhinocerous and saying it’s a dining table. It might fool some folks, but it won’t fool everyone.

Regardless of the shenanigans that the Grossmans and Sierra Nevada pulled on their site visits, I applaud their efforts. The speculation is that beer is costing them a fortune to ship to the East Coast, so it would be easier and cheaper to just make it here. It’s a green initiative that makes economic sense, and it’s pretty rad that they’ve identified it and are taking steps in that direction. They’re greenifying an already uber-environmentally conscious business. Cheers to Sierra Nevada for stirring up this little mountain town!

Pirate Festival is a celebration of rum, beer, vodka, tequila, pirates and wenches with the best entertainment in Los Angeles. May 21, 2011 1pm – 5pm at Olympic Collection in west Los Angeles. Entrainment by the real pirates of the Caribbean Pirates for Hire and the #1 Band in southern California Adam’s Attic event benefits the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

Join Mutineer Magazine, Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Breakaway Spirits Company and Beer West Magazine as we sponsor this event to benefit the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

Barrel aged and special treatment beers are nothing new to Stone Brewing Co … if you just so happened to be at the right place at the right time somewhere around the country that Stone has toted kegs of the elusive beer to. Today, that will change as Stone announced that they will begin bottling and releasing barrel aged and special treatment beers in their Quingenti Millilitre series. Quingenti Millilitre means 500 millimeters and as such the beers will be seen in 500ml cork and caged bottles. This is great news as bourbon barrel aged Imperial Russian Stout and Old Guardian Barley Wine aged in red wine barrels were incredibly difficult to find … well, unfortunately this won’t make them much easier to find. Due to the scale of Stone’s distribution and how many barrels and much space in the warehouses it would take for this to see distribution, Stone will only be releasing a very small amount of bottles for each release and in order to find yourself the proud owner of one you’ll need to visit Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido, California.

The first release will be Ken Schmidt / Maui / Stone Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter aged in bourbon barrels. One of my favorite beers from 2009 and now aged in bourbon barrels? Count me in. Sadly, only 672 bottles of it will be released and if they impose even just a two bottle limit per person, not even 350 people would see this wondrous beer set to be release around July.

Other beers to be on the look out for are Old Guardian in red wine barrels, Old Guardian in rye whiskey barrels as well as 2011 Stone Imperial Russian Stout & 2011 Stone BELGO Anise Imperial Russian Stout that are already resting in a variety of barrels.

Be sure to follow Stone’s Facebook and Twitter for the most up to date information on upcoming Quingenti Millilitre releases.

Want to serve your country? Why not serve beer for the Department of the Army as a brewmaster. Yes, that’s right … the Army Installation Management Command of the Department of the Army is looking to hire a brewmaster in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I guess when I enlisted I either missed the memo or this job wasn’t available, but one lucky person in Oklahoma will be brewing beer for the United States Army and be responsible for:

Planning and managing the day-to-day operation of a brewery.

Preparing and/or overseeing the preparation of beer following and creating recipes.

Once upon a time, in a land known as Paso Robles, there was a little craft brewery called Firestone Walker. They made beer. And by making beer, they made people happy.

One day, in addition to making beer, Firestone Walker also made a decision. They decided to throw a party – a party celebrating some of the best barrel-aged brews coming out of California. This made people really happy.

So on Friday, April 8, Ballast Point, Russian River, The Bruery, New Belgium, Stone and Lost Abbey all converged on Historic Santa Margarita Ranch, and poured their finest for the people. Rich and malty, frothy cups of barrel-aged bliss.

No one expected the 32 degree nighttime lows, so there was rejoicing throughout the land at the abundance of bourbon. Oh, the bourbon. Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Makers Mark, Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve, Knob Creek, Blanton’s. A delicious spread of barrel-aged, 51% corn goodness.

Party-goers were also treated to Paso port wines from Roxo Cellars, Cass Winery, Paso Port, EOS, Eberle and Le Vigne. A selection of cigars was available for purchase, to really help revelers feel like royalty.

And then there was food. Artisan, Mee Heng Low Noodle House, The Grill at Avila Beach Resort, Novo, Buona Tavola.